


Daughter of the Moon ➳ Lucien Vanserra

by Snow_mouse



Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: F/M, Hybern, Mentions of the Inner Circle (ACoTaR), The Autumn Court (ACoTaR), The Court of Nightmares (ACoTaR), The Dawn Court (ACoTaR), The Day Court (Acotar), The Night Court, The Spring Court (ACoTaR), The Summer Court (ACoTaR), The Winter Court (ACoTaR), montesere
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:00:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26956228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snow_mouse/pseuds/Snow_mouse
Summary: Adriana has been under the control of Eris Vanserra, getting trained as his personal assassin. With a promise of a better future for her and her family, she doesn't obligate when he starts to drag her along to wherever he had to go. But one day, she snuck away from him in the Night court, wanting to have time for herself.That is before she meets on Lucien Vanserra, the eldest son of the high lord of Autumn. Knowing that he has himself dealt with great losses, she figures out one thing, he finds peace in her violence. But with time, secrets gets exposed and there is only way to actually who to fight alongside; and who it is that will still stand by her side when her darkest secret gets exposed.[ this is dedicated to starryjava on tik tok, a lucien cosplayer! ]
Kudos: 2





	1. snow-covered street

Everything had been ruined during the war with Hybern. Soldiers had died, Adriana had been a witness to it all. The way the poor warriors had dropped from the sky and the way people had carried the dead from the battlefield after the king was killed by one of the Archeron sisters, they seemed to be quite famous when it came to the high elves. Adriana had been the witness to it all, and yet, she hadn’t spoken about it to anyone, not to her brother or parents, and especially not to her friends. They were still jealous of how she had become the personal maid of Eris, the most promising son of the autumn court. But that was the thing, she hadn’t wished for this position if it hadn’t been for her family having no income beside this job. As soon as she had saved up enough, she would leave this place with her entire family. She was so close, yet so far, the income gotten shortened with the cost of the war, barely covering the meals.

“Adriana, focus, or I will replace you,” Eris said sharply and shook his head, putting yet another book onto the pile of books the girl was already carrying.

“I’m sorry, it won’t happen again,” she said lowly, her back arching slightly due to the weight of the books. Why did anyone have to need so many books and make a poor maid carry them all? Was this some kind of punishment for her actually leaving her post to help her family some days ago? “Where do you want them, my lord?”

Eris just looked at her, and it sent chills down her spine, the bad kind. There was something about him that she disliked, something that she couldn’t stand. Maybe it was the way he looked at her, his eyes just seeming a black hole, pulling everything in under his control. With a deep scoff, he shook his head again. That was her specialty, making the next high lord shake his head. If she had to be honest, she couldn’t help it, despite working there for years, there was still so much she still didn’t know what to do with. Just like the heavy books in her arms that was making her shoulders hurt as she tried to have a straight back and not dropping the books.

“I’m going to the court of nightmares, Adriana. And you are coming along, I don’t know how long I have to be away the court, so why not bring you along? More fun and then I can keep an eye on you and your _training_ that you are going through.”

Oh yeah, she despised the training as well. Since Eris didn’t seem to trust anyone, and he knew about her family situation, he had made her start train to become an assassin. His little personal maid and killer, things couldn’t look brighter than this for her, and they had also made a bargain. She was not to leave her position unless he said so, and with how he kept dragging her around, it didn’t seem that she would be let go. The only catch was that when she had saved up enough money, he would let her go without any question. Maybe that was why the payment had gone down beside the war.

“Yes, my lord,” she replied after a moment of standing there, before turning on her heel, inhaling sharply and walk out of the door, the heels of her shoes clicking onto the floor as she went to pack them in his bag.

Everyone kept looking at her like she was his property, there was no change ever since she started. The other maids would find every possible chance to pick on her or try to make her lose her job by ruining her outfit or distracting her from the important tasks she had been given. While the soldiers didn’t even stop them even if they saw what was happening, that was the cruelty of the world; the people who couldn’t protect themselves, they were to perish. But no matter how much she thought it over, it seemed ridiculous. There was nothing in this world that said that the lesser known high fae’s could climb up the ladder to be more known.

“Go back to where you came from, traitor!”

She was used to it, she was used to these words, and they were only spoken since people learned that she and her family had come from Montesere. Even if they knew that her parents had ran away from there many years ago due to finding happiness in all their wealth, it was before Adriana had been born, so about 400 years ago. But all the choices her parents had taken, they didn’t regret it one bit, and if Adriana had to be honest, she didn’t mind being poorer than she could have been, it had taught her a lot of valuable lessons of life.

**†**

The ride to the night court took forever, and Adriana’s butt was sore after sitting behind Eris on the horse. She found it suspicious, that when they were going to leave, the horse she was going to use suddenly disappeared. But at least she now had the chance of getting away for some hours, as soon as Eris went to greet Keir. Adriana had grabbed her bag and disappeared in the shadows as the night had fallen upon the place. She needed time to breath, time to be by herself and just explore a place she had never been before.

“Adriana!” It was distant as she was rushing away from the prying eyes of the people. For the first time in years, she felt the fresh air run through her lungs as every sense got filled with something new, something she could explore. Luckily they had prepared for the winter, so she couldn’t go as fast as she usually could, with the coat weighing down her shoulders for every step she took.

She had heard about the celebration here, the Winter Solstice. And by the look of it, people were preparing for the celebration that would be held in some days. Despite it being dark outside, it seemed like the shops were still open and the streets were filled with people working and children laughing. It was almost too good to be true; she hadn’t expected a place like this to actually exist. A place where everyone seemed to fit in. Maybe she would take her family here when she got the chance, and if the rulers of this land would allow her to do such things. If she explained her situation to them, would they be understanding and help her out in her time of need? So many thoughts, they made her head hurt as she walked down the street of the lovely city that some called home.

But after a moment, she had to stop, her neck hurting from Eris trying to reach her through the bargain, to force her to come back to his side. He didn’t care whether she wanted to explore the town, or if she wanted to have a life that she called hers. And with all of the talk of him taking down his father and becoming the high lord of Autumn, she was a powerful piece in his game of chess.

“Are you okay? You seem to be in some sort of discomfort,” a voice said, surprising her. Even though, she felt like she knew that voice from somewhere. “Hey.”

Adriana inhaled as she felt a gloved hand rest on her shoulder, making her look up. She knew him, she knew this man so well. His crimson red hair, the golden eye that had been torn out from its socket so many years ago. Adriana knew Lucien Vanserra, even though he didn’t know her. Or maybe he just knew her as his brothers personal maid, but either way, she was a person of no interest to him. He had always been like this, seeming to be so kind and gentle, not wanting people to be in any kind of pain.

“Yeah, I’m fine, my lord. Nothing for you to worry about,” she replied, when she realised she hadn’t answered his question yet. But her answer seemed to cause him some kind of pain as his face twisted for a moment before he nodded slowly. The worst part of knowing that she had just hurt him with calling him by the title she was used to call the sons of the high lord of Autumn? If Eris found out that she had called anyone beside him for _my lord_ , he would do one of two things; make her train for days without rest, or he would lock her up somewhere as a punishment. “I will be on my way.”

She only came a few steps past him before she felt a hand that grabbed hers, preventing herself from going further down the street. It didn’t seem like Lucien even bothered to notice the people who glanced in their direction before continuing on their own things.

“Adriana. Is my brother even treating you right? There is a word going on that he is gaining more and more people’s trust through threats. Do you know anything about that by any chance? Any information is valuable, and I’m only on visit here for the Winter Solstice.”

The question he asked, she wanted to just lay down flat and tell him everything, but her entire family was on the table, it being her decision whether she wanted to put them in danger or not. And after thinking through it, she didn’t think that Lucien even could have much to say when it came to her family’s safety, or what was going on in the Autumn court. He hadn’t been there for ages, instead being in the Spring court with Tamlin as his second. Adriana still remembered how she had hated not being able to actually see him through the window of the library, or when he was training with his sword in the garden late at night. It was a sight for a poor soul without much future outside of the court. But she had forgiven him a long time ago, it hadn’t been his fault that his brothers hadn’t liked him, and his former lover being killed right in front of him by his father.

“No, I’m sorry, I don’t know anything about it. And Eris is treating me like he should, giving me tasks to do as his maid and is respectful when it comes to boundaries.”

It was true, Eris hadn’t touched her in any way she hadn’t consented to, and for that, she was grateful. He hadn’t even let any other people touch her inappropriately, at least any time that he was there or came by. And even if people tried when he wasn’t around, she had no hesitation to fight them with all of her might. For she had learned from young age to not let anyone in if she didn’t feel like she was ready for it, for there were more important things out there other than getting children and having a family.

“But are you happy? I could ask a friend of mine to get you out of there.”

No, he couldn’t. He didn’t know what her family had to go through if she decided to not follow the orders given. And she knew that he didn’t know, for he hadn’t been there. Just hearing the words that had come out from his mouth made the blood in her veins boil, her hands turning into fists as she looked down the snow-covered street, focusing on the laughter coming from the running children playing in the snow. Adriana found it hard, so hard to actually focus on something else other than the anger filling every fibre of her body.

_He doesn’t know, calm down. He doesn’t know, he is innocent for your suffering. Lucien had nothing to do with it, calm. Down!_

There was no limit to how many times she screamed at herself to stop doing what she wanted to. But to no help, the girl spun around, grabbed the hand holding her upper arm and twisted it behind his back with a quick step. Adriana then drove her boot into the back of his knee, forcing him down onto the covered snow, and she held him there. He didn’t even give any signs to fight against her.

“So, you say that you want to help me, right? Then, if you were to take me right here and now to _rescue_ me from your brother, would you be able to deal with the consequences for your actions?” she asked, not caring who heard or watched them.

“What do you mean?”

“I’ll never get free. I’m a lamb being inspected for slaughter. So, what are you going to do when there’s blood in the water? The price of your greed might as well be your sanity.”

Did she regret ever opening her mouth? Absolutely. But Adriana couldn’t do anything about that, no matter how much she really desired to. But with the mark of her bargain with Eris pounding on her neck, and the words that had come out from Lucien’s mouth, she didn’t want to be right there.

“Oh, my little brother trapped by a girl, a sight I would never have thought to have seen,” a voice said, sending shivers down Adriana’s back. She let Lucien go and took a step, feeling the aura pouring off of Eris as he stepped between them. “Leave her alone, Lucien. She isn’t yours to save.”

“What are you planning, Eris? It’s not like I want to be high lord of the Autumn court, so what is it that you need from me? And it’s not my job to save her? Who then? You?”

“Stop talking, Lucien. It’s bothersome.”

Adriana lowered her head, her gloved hands playing with the pelts on her coat. Even though she wore a coat, she felt the chill in the air as if it patted her down. Despite shivering, she didn’t say anything, she didn’t need to speak up. This was usual whenever the brothers met, bickering and empty threats.

“A lamb might become the holiest animal with the right words and treatment.”

Those simple words caught her attention as her head snapped towards Lucien. He was staring at her over Eris’ shoulder, like he knew what was lingering underneath the veins and the flesh of her body, like he knew _what she was._ She couldn’t tear her eyes away from his as his words rung through her head, a lamb could become holy with the right treatment. What was that supposed to mean? Lambs usually got sent to slaughter to feed hungry wolves, their wish were never asked for or considered.

“Happy Solstice, Lucien. But we got other business to attend to.”

She opened her mouth slightly, as to ask if what he had meant with his statement, even though he was still on his knees on the cold ground. Eris walked over to her and just rose an eyebrow as he walked behind her and grabbed her shoulders. Right before she was engulfed in the darkness, she mouthed two simple words, only for Lucien to see, only for him to understand; _My family._


	2. the woods

The moment they had finished winnowing, Eris let go of her shoulders and took a step back, just in time to prevent himself from getting punched. Even though she had no reason to be mad at him, she still felt the burning sensation under her skin, wanting to get on the outside.

“Don’t ever do that again. You’re putting me in bad light with Keir.”

But she didn’t care what impression she left on people she had no business with whatsoever. Adriana snorted and pulled off the cloak and the scarf, running a hand through her hair with her gloved hands. It all was because she met on Lucien that she didn’t get to explore the town like she had wanted, but at the same time, she felt kind of relieved that she had met on him. Maybe now, she actually had a chance to get free from the chains holding her down and linked to Eris.

“Put you in a bad light? I could have handled myself with Lucien. If you are to just swoop in and _save_ me from anything like you just did, I don’t see the point in even training me,” Adriana snapped, her voice loud as she spun around to stomp over to the window, leaning against the frame. “Then what’s the point in keeping me here?”

She didn’t need to hear to know that he stepped closer, too close for her current mood. Adriana was angry at the whole situation. With Lucien, she could have handled herself, she hadn’t even shown him a second of weakness, making sure that he knew that she wasn’t someone he was going to mess with. If the words that Eris had told her had been true that is, if he really was like his brother had described him as. What had she been thinking when she had mouthed those two words to the seventh son of the Autumn court? How stupid could she be? If the words were true, it might not even be a house that she would return to upon her arrival back at the Autumn court whenever Eris was done with his business here with the court of nightmares. And what would happen with her younger brother that laughed like he had no worries? And her mother that always cooked so good food without much to prepare with?

Just the many possibilities of what could happen now, it was almost making her want to scream at the top of her lungs. But she knew better than that, she knew better than make the focus on her as Eris was also in the room. Adriana didn’t want to make him know that she had done something she shouldn’t have.

“Adriana, change and come out to train, and don’t be late, little butterfly. Your wings are still not ready to be shown to the world.”

By his words to think about, she changed out from the dress the second he had exited the room that he had winnowed them into. She grabbed her bag and threw everything onto the bed and found each leather piece, strapping them on in an order. Adriana didn’t even need to look at herself in the mirror to be able to actually know how she looked, she already knew with how many times the children had forced her to stare at herself in the mirror and calling her a monster. But they had been true about it, she was a monster, just not the kind they were thinking of as young children, still unaware of the dangerous world lurking at their feet; ready to get rid of them one by one.

What was haunting her the most was the blood red eyes of hers that neither of her other family members had. The last person in the family that had the same colour was many generations ago, but what had happened to them had been unknown. Maybe it was the way her eyes looked deadly that made Eris take her in and train her like he was doing. For her, the red eyes reminded her of the blood on the ground after the war, the blood running down the street after a big fight, and it reminded her the most about the blood moon. Maybe the reason why Eris had taken her in was how she seemed to fit in with the darkness, as her purple hair blended in with the darkness.

“Are you coming? Or do I have to drag you out of there?” a male voice asked, and Adriana was brought of her captivating thoughts as she grabbed the last leather strap and tied it tightly around her thigh. She then grabbed her dagger and walked out of the room with her head held high, especially in front of her sparring partner, Eris’ most trusted friend. If she even could call him that after everything he’d done. “By the cauldron, why must women always take so long?”

**†**

The training was usually long and painful, and Adriana would end up black and blue after it if she didn’t get away from her sparring partner, there was no mercy given just because she was of the opposite sex. They were in the woods, a nice little clearing with a river running close by and the ground with the white snow, now tainted with dots of red blood from Adriana’s cut that she had gotten in the first couple of minutes.

“Just admit it, Ana, you’re not going to win this time without some kind of magic. Which you don’t have, we all know that. All you have is your scary looks, and that’s it.”

Adriana didn’t listen there she was sitting on the branch, looking down as he tried to grab her ankle and pull her down from there, but she just watched him as she wiped away the blood from her face. She had gotten through enough, and with him trying to get her to feel less than she was worth, she was soon done with him. But his words, they weren’t really important, for he didn’t know, but at the same time, how would he when all they did was clash their sword together? Adriana yawned softly as she did a gesture with her hand, the blood that had been on it splattering onto the white snow, where it still hadn’t been stained.

“I’m coming, I’m coming. No need to rush the long process in sword combat as well as close combat,” she said in a sarcastic voice, grabbing the branch and jumping down from the tree, ducking away from the sword that came her way. “Coward.”

For some reason, she found it fun to joke around when it was only the two of them, there were so many ways she could just throw him of the hook and get him into trouble with Eris, all because of his small comments about her being a girl and her appearance. Even though he knew that she hadn’t asked to be born like this, like the night of a blood moon. Despite that, he didn’t seem to care what she did or said, she would never be his equal, not in combat, not in rank, and especially not when it came to Eris’ trust. Adriana saw something in the corner of her eye, but she swung her body around to tackle the guard down and got up, brushing the snow off her body casually.

“Why didn’t you try to do anything else?”

She rose an eyebrow at him and grabbed the dagger resting against her thigh before throwing it in the direction of the person she had spotted in the corner of her eyes. The sound of the crunching snow revealed that she was indeed right, there had been someone there, watching them for some time now. And she had been the first one to even notice.

“Come out, you can’t hide there and not think that we’re going to ignore you.”

To her surprise, the person actually listened, her dagger in their hand, like they knew how to hold it. She rose an eyebrow and staggered backwards when the person came into the moon light getting through the trees; Lucien. What was he doing out there? There was noting out here for him, nothing that was of importance for him. Adriana glanced over at the guard which seemed too fixated on Lucien to even sense her glance. Eris must have been said something before telling him to retrieve me some hours before. His eyes were filled with hunger, like Lucien was a prey that he would get money for. But Eris wouldn’t do that to his own brother, would he?

“The pack of lambs are somewhere safe, there is no need to worry about them,” Lucien spoke up, throwing the dagger in front of Adriana.

The lambs? Who were he talking about? She didn’t know any lambs in the area that would somehow be in danger. Adriana frowned, tilting her head slightly as she recalled every single detail from the day, from her way from the Autumn court to the Night court and till now.

“Lambs? There’s nothing a wolf can hunt down, it’s not like lambs are protected by some god or something.”

At that moment, she recalled what Lucien had said earlier that day; _“A lamb might become the holiest animal with the right words and treatment.”_

She looked over at the guard, slowly picking up the dagger from the snow, her hand not even sensing the cold of the snow. Adriana glanced over at Lucien, which seemed confused as to what she was even going to do, especially when he glanced between them.

_Don’t make his attention on me, you prick. This will be my only chance._

It wasn’t like he could hear what was going through in her head, anyone rarely did. And she had already heard about his pure mate that didn’t even want to talk to him, a seer with the name Elain. Eris had told her all about them, as much as he knew. She just found it hilarious that he had been fated with someone that still held feelings for a human boy. But that wasn’t the matter at hand.

“A wolf might hunt down a lamb, but I don’t think you’ve ever heard of a wolf in sheep’s clothing. In a pack of lambs, they are quite hard to spot.”

Maybe he knew what she was planning by watching her movements, or maybe Lucien was just paying her the time she needed to distract the guard with the metaphors. Adriana didn’t care with what he distracted the guard with, as long as it worked. She cursed lowly at the crunching of her boots against the snow, but there was just a tiny setback when it came to take a life.

“Yes, it might be hard to spot them, but their smell still lingers, a wolf still can’t get rid of their scent of blood.”

She had been a moment too late; the guard grabbed her and twisted the dagger out from her hand. Adriana grabbed his hand with both of hers, but no sound came out of her. It wasn’t like she didn’t want to make a noise, but the moon was too captivating to look at that she forgot what was going on for a moment. She inhaled sharply, glancing over to the red splatters on the snow nearby, like the random spots was something only she could read, something only she understood.

“And yet, the wolf in sheep’s clothing is the one to overthrow the hunter. They know the territory better than them,” she laughed, there was no emotions in her laugh as she used her lower body to place her feet on his side, slowly starting to pull. “And still, the lamb trusts the wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

If he hadn’t let go when he had, she would have pulled his arm right off. Lucien came to her side, helping her up from the ground, only to be grabbed by the guard and forced away from her, and pinned to the tree. Was this her curse? The reason her features had been given to her, had it been this? Lucien had no weapons on him, and the guard was a lot bigger than him, and fuller as well. Adriana looked around at the snow, but her dagger had disappeared into the snow. What could she possibly use that would get him away from Lucien?

Even if she still didn’t trust Lucien or was sure of what his agenda was, he was the only person that knew where he had placed her family. She had to do something, and she had to do it now, or the blood would end up in her hands, the blood of a son of the Autumn court.

_Adriana, the monster lurking in the shadows._

The voice in her head surprised her, like she had never heard it before. But when she thought about it, it usually came whenever she was troubled by something or was going to end up in danger. Who it belonged to, she didn’t care about it, not right now when she could get deposed of with a flick of the guard’s hand. Adriana glanced over at Lucien, which was fighting the bigger man, it gave her the perfect chance to sneak away and lure a monster in the shadow this way. She grabbed her scarf on the way to the edge of the clearing, tying it over her eyes. This would be difficult, she knew that, but even if she had to make a bargain to get that man away from the surface of the world, she would do it a million times over.

“Don’t you dare leave, Adriana!”

But she had already taken off, with her sight cut out, making all of her other senses appearing to be more dominant. She listened closely to the sound around her, beside the crunching snow from underneath her. How far she got, she didn’t know, she didn’t care. The blood in her veins rushed through her body in an ungodly speed as she tripped over someone.

_Come on, look._

With shaking hands, she took off the scarf and looked at a figure of light. She looked exactly like Adriana, but the marks on the others’ body didn’t match the one that she had. Adriana slowly got up on four, her eyes never leaving the other version of herself.

“Adriana!”

It sounded distant, she didn’t know where she was or which way she would go to get back to the other two. Everything seemed to go in slow motion, the snow falling was light and she could see the way the snowflakes were formed.

_He might not be your mate, Adriana. And you’re not his either, but there is something there. Turn around, change, and save your twin flame._

Her twin-flame, what did that mean? But the figure of light disappeared into the night, leaving her alone with the moon. If the thing she had said was true, maybe there was something worth fighting for. Without hesitation, she got up on her feet and spun around, sprinting, the last thing she remembered was the moon singing a lullaby and the sound of leather ripping.


	3. the plan

_“Adriana! Where are you?”_

_She groaned at the loud voice; it takes her a moment to even register who it belonged to. The cold was biting her as she opened her eyes with a small cough, before she sat up in the snow-covered ground. Adriana looked around herself and froze, the snow no longer being the beautiful white it had been when she had last remembered, it was stained badly with the crimson red blood of the guard. He was laying a few feet away from her, his eyes wide with fear. She looked down at herself, finding only skin. With the footsteps in the distance coming closer, she had to think quickly, she had to get out of there. But where were her clothes? And which way was the way back to the court of nightmares? Adriana cursed lowly under her breath as she got up, grabbing the guard’s cloak in a hurry and disappeared into the shadows of the trees, hiding away from Lucien and the prying eyes of the moon._

That is what she had remembered from the day before, but in the middle of running back to Lucien and that moment, she didn’t remember any of it. She was currently sitting in the room she had been given in the mountain, close enough for Eris to call out to her if he needed. But she figured he would mostly likely be busy enough with chatting with Keir, leaving her to her own thoughts. He had helped her get to the room without anyone knowing and left as soon as she had closed the door, not asking about the blood staining her face or making her hair shine in the flickering flames in the halls.

“My lady, Eris is seeking your audience,” a voice called out from the hall, interrupting her thoughts. _My lady?_ Who had made her think that she was more than a lowly maid, and an assassin in training? But she got out of her chair and went over to the door, opening it with a small tilt of her head.

“He can just come in, and I’m not a lady. I’m his maid, so there is no need to be formal with me,” she replied, holding the door enough open for Eris to enter through. The girl blushed slightly out of embarrassment and left the scene, her shoulders tensing up, as if she realised that I was watching every step she took away from them.

“Lucien is looking for you, did you know? Or do you know anything about the guard that I sent to train you?”

Right to the interrogation, maybe she had judged him too soon, thinking she would be spared for explaining it. But at the same time, she couldn’t really explain what had happened as she didn’t know herself; it was just a black spot in her memory. So as to what had happened to the guard and why it had happened, she did not know.

_And you shall not remember, not until the right time._

Eris rose an eyebrow at her, but she brushed it off and went to sit in front of the fire, not letting her eyes drift away from the flickering fire that warmed her up to her core. The cold of the snow still holding onto the bones in her body, not wanting to let go no matter how much she covered herself with blankets and clothes. Right now, even the silence was worse than not remember anything, she didn’t know what was running through Eris’ mind as he just stood by the door and watched her. If there was something that she knew, him being silence would never end up good, neither for her nor himself.

“Well, good riddance either way. He was getting on my nerves, so I was just waiting for someone to get rid of him.”

Those words, she hadn’t expected them to come out from his mouth, no matter how long she had kind of known him, she had never heard that from him, that he was happy that someone was gone.

“Either way. My father is trying to claim more land in the mortal realm, and now that I have given Rhysand a warning, there’s no other reason for us to be out here, now is it?” he asked, sitting down in the other chair, grabbing the wine that she hadn’t touched, taking a huge sip from it.

“And why are you telling me this? There is nothing that indicates that I would ever leave you anyway. I can’t, as long as the bargain is in it’s place,” she replied, brushing some hair away from her neck to reveal the bargain mark.

“You need to know why? I’m tempted to send you to Lucien, to travel with him and report back to me when you can about what he’s doing and who he is meeting.”

The look in Eris’ eyes could have scared anyone, could have made anyone want to run away from him. But Adriana was sitting there, looking into his eye and rose an eyebrow. She was supposed to be _sent_ to Lucien. Was she some kind of present that could be exchanged from one to another when they grew tired of her? He was really trusting her enough to send her away to his brother, that he despised. Adriana shook her head and turned back to the flames, falling deeper into her thoughts. Would Lucien know what had happened just some hours before? Or had the thing that had killed the guard hurt him as well? No, if he had been hurt, he would have been dead, especially to the way of the guard’s death to judge. If it had been given a chance, it was no way it would spare a mere fae, especially when it was capable of taking down someone bigger than the crimson haired fae. But at the same time, he was probably alive, but how? Maybe he ran away in time to not almost get eaten alive by some kind of beast? Or maybe he had played death? Just the thought made Adriana laugh, it didn’t sit right with her. There was something that she still didn’t know that she needed answers on.

_Your twin flame._

It was that too. What was a twin flame? She had never heard about it before, only soulmates. And Lucien certainly wasn’t her, as Elain was still walking through his mind of any given situation. Even if she was curious about it, it most likely wasn’t anyone who could give her the answer that she wanted, at least not without putting up a fight. There were too many questions, even with her long-life span. At the same time, she never knew when she was going to get stricken down by some fae male that wanted to get into someone, anyone that she was important to. Who even would put her under the list of important people in their life? She could backstab any of them at any moment, not having a second thought about it. And it would have been all their fault for ever trusting her to become someone important to them.

“I don’t want to go with him, not after what you’ve told me. And there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“You have to.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Adriana,” he groaned, running a hand down his face, clearly close to giving her up. “If you do this, and when he’s back on solid ground, and staying, I will let you out of the bargain and you will be freed from your debt.”

Never in her entire 400 years of living had she thought those words were going to get out of his mouth. He would let her go just like that? After everything that he’d been through to get her as trained as she currently was. Which made the whole thing seemed suspicious, why send her away when it was clear that she was still of use to him? Adriana got up from her chair and rolled her shoulders, walking over to the window, chewing on her bottom lip as she looked at the blue skies and the snow. There had to be something behind this, something that she was missing between the lines, something important. If she were to go with Lucien, she had to confront him about what happened during the last night before he got the chance to confront her about it.

“They’re leaving tomorrow, so you got until that to make up your mind. And do remember, I’m not doing this because I care for my brother, but there is also the chance that he’s plotting against me and actually wants to be the high lord of the Autumn court the moment my father is gone.”

She could see him close the door after himself in the window, leaving her to the decision of whether she had to leave the place she had gotten used to, or go with a man who she had almost heard no good about.

**†**

But she didn’t think she had any big choice in the matter, Eris needed her gone from his side and to act as a spy for him with his brother, so what else could she decide? And, getting away from the prying eyes of the others in the Autumn court was more than welcoming than being called monster in any occasion.

“Be a good girl now, any don’t bother my brother _too much,_ ” Eris said as he stood in front of her, patting her head like she was some kind of loyal dog. “And do remember to send words about everything.”

“Even if I didn’t, you would hear about it one way or another,” she pointed out, shaking her head. She didn’t need to hear it to know that he would one way or another keep an eye on her from the Autumn court.

“Go now, or they’re going to leave without you. And remember what we talked about…”

Adriana had already started to walk away from him as he talked, her bag thrown over her shoulder as she just waved her hand at him. She got to the horse that had been prepared, getting up on it with ease. One last nod at Eris and then she was gone.

**†**

Lucien was possibly the easiest to find in the whole Velaris. Especially with the brown-haired male talking to him and the woman she recognized as Vassa. He glanced up once, then looked back to the male, before looking up again.

“I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”

Adriana sighed as she slid out of the saddle, grabbing the bag from behind her and strolled over, raising an eyebrow at the small gathering. “So, I’ve heard. And as you can see, I’m fine, just a little cold from the snow, but I’m fine.”

It was Jurian’s gaze that bothered her the most, the way he seemed to undress her cover, seeking out the worst in her. And she looked at him the same way, her eyebrow still raised slightly. She had been taught to never step down whenever someone tried to show who was higher than you, but he seemed to be more curious than wanting to put her in her place. Vassa stepped between them, making Adriana look at her instead than Jurian, not that she minded if she was honest with herself. The mortal queen was lighter on the eye than the male and seemed to just want everyone to get along with each other.

“I’ve heard you will come along with us to the mortal realm, I hope you didn’t mind traveling during the night,” she said, her voice soft.

“Oh no, I slept all day after attending my master’s businesses that he needed help with.” Every word, every glance, they all had been taught to her for whenever she would need it. And now seemed like a good time, she didn’t trust these people as she had heard story upon story about everyone outside of the Autumn court. She noticed Lucien’s grimace as she had called his brother her master, as well as Jurian’s confused one. “So, I tolerate no ill words about Eris Vanserra.”

That must have been it for Jurian, he nearly stomped around Vassa before grabbing Adriana’s collar, pulling her towards him. Seemed like he had some grudges against the next lord of the Autumn court. He just looked at her like she was the craziest out of everyone he had ever met, Amarantha included it seemed, especially after being in a damn ring for so long. By the way he looked ready to kill her, just to get to Eris.

“Your master is Eris?” he asked through gritted teeth.

Her red eyes darkened as she looked at Jurian, the moonlight being the only source of light where they were standing. She laughed, not the soft laugh she usually did, but more sarcastic and uninterested. Adriana grabbed a hold of Jurian’s hand and twisted it around, how weak for a mere mortal. It was Lucien that grabbed Adriana’s hand to prevent her from hurting the mortal any further. She just glanced over at him as he shook his head at her. Her response? Sticking her tongue out as Jurian looked up at her over his shoulder.

“We need to get moving, or Vassa is going to turn before you two are done fighting.”

Jurian was the first one to look away from Adriana, instead walking to Vassa and chatting with her. While Lucien stayed with her, but she didn’t look at him, but instead rubbed her neck where the bargain mark was, her eyes fixated on the stars high above them. At least it was true as some people said that the stars in the night court shone brighter than in any other court. She could be used to that, especially when her younger brother seemed to be more and more interested in the unknown world out there, even though not many at his age were.

“Your family is safe, Ana. They’re with Tamlin and his court,” Lucien said, giving her shoulder a pat before walking past her, like she was some old friend in the same league as him.

“Lucien, what happened last night?” Her question came out without a filter as she pursed her lips, awaiting his answer. A part of her wanted to know, yet the other part begged her not to find out a piece of the puzzle of last night. The nickname he had given her, it had no meaning to her, not when something far more important was tossed at the table. “Why weren’t you killed like the guard was?”

He stopped only a few feet away from her, looking over his shoulder with his golden eye, the scar on his face reflecting from the moon. The way he looked at her was similar to the way Eris had been looking at her, like they didn’t know the answer to the answer she was asking.

“A beast came, killed the guard, and came towards me, but it was like something pulled it away. I could feel it’s pain, as it didn’t have any control over itself. But the moment I was going to strike, it ran away, took the guard’s body along. It was at that moment I looked for you, in case the beast found you.”

So, a part of what she had suspected had been true, there had been a beast that had killed the guard merciless it seemed. After giving her his answer, Lucien looked back towards Vassa and Jurian, with a small sigh.

“I know my brother is still suspicious of me, and what you’re really here for. But at least you will get some of the freedom that you’re craving.”


	4. the inn

Jurian never were out of sight, like he was watching over her, she didn’t blame him, she didn’t blame any of them of being suspicious of her. It didn’t bother her as much as how Lucien know why she came, there was no way he could have known if someone hadn’t said anything to him. Did he possibly have a person on his side in the night court? Rhysand maybe, no, he might tolerate him, but wouldn’t feed him with information he would perhaps need. Feyre then, they had been quite close when she had been in Spring court so many months ago.

“Can’t you two just stop staring at each other like you want to kill each other?”

Lucien led his horse to both of their visions, looking at them in turns. Adriana shrugged and rose her eyebrows at Jurian, almost as if she was daring him to take a wrong step in this game, or to just piss him off even more. She couldn’t decide which one she was really going after, but either way, it worked. Jurian’s horse stopped as he pulled the reins, making some distance between them. Lucien rose an eyebrow at Adriana, but she just shook her head, her eyes fixated on the road and over at Vassa. This would be a long and tiring task, and she also had to find the time to train on her skills as well.

“It’s not my fault that he’s being suspicious, like I have planned to hurt any of you,” she commented, clicking her tongue at the horse, gaining some distance between her and Lucien.

**†**

During the day, they would make camp or go to an inn to rest up until the night, while Vassa was in her firebird form. Adriana would use this time to go in a decent amount of distance away from the inn to train on her moves, not even bothered to check if people were following her or not. They didn’t know why she was training, so she didn’t care. She was just doing as she was told on this journey, training her skills whenever she could and wherever she could. But she was being watched by Jurian, that was one thing that annoyed her more than normally. If only he could just leave her alone to do what she wanted, that would turn out the best for both of them.

“Why are you out here? You always seem to sneak away whenever you wish so,” Jurian said, walking out from the shadows. “It’s quite suspicious if you ask me.”

“Aren’t a lady allowed to train with what she got? In case someone might try to jump at her, or be suspicious of her?”

Her words made him chuckle, she could hear it over the sound of her own blood pumping through her veins, wanting her to turn and slice him down, right there. But she knew better than do anything of that sort, Lucien and Vassa would ask questions about him, and it would just make her mission even more difficult, and she didn’t want that.

“Good point, Adriana. Why don’t you train with me then? I can help you by pointing out some things you can get better on, hand combat of course.”

It was a good offer, but what would he get out of it? There wasn’t like they were to actually end up in a fight together, if he didn’t make the first move of course. Adriana looked over at him with a small snort and shook her head, she didn’t need him to know what she didn’t want him to know. She put the daggers back in her boots as she pulled her cloak closer, starting to head back towards the inn. But he grabbed her arm, and within a second or two, a dagger was placed against her throat. Of course, she wasn’t faced by it, she didn’t even jump when he had done so, like she had been expecting it.

“What are your plans? It’s not like Eris to actually let go of his belongings just like that.”

_Belonging._ He had called her an object. Adriana took a deep breath before she turned around in his grip, not even sensing the pain from the cut that became visible on her skin.

“I’m not someone he owns, just you wait and see. You can think what you want, but I am in no way someone that he can throw away if he gets tired of me,” she snapped, her hand finding the dagger he held against her throat, her grip tightening around the sharp blade, but she didn’t care about the pain.

“Oh yeah, what is it with this then?” he spat out at her, his eyes never leaving hers.

She didn’t get a chance to even stop his hand from pushing away the cloak from her neck and revealing the bargain mark that made her connected with Eris. He honestly didn’t seem surprised to see it, his eyes slowly gliding to it.

“And what are you going to do with this? Go and tell Lucien that the reason I’m here is because of his brother’s orders? He already knows that.”

Jurian blinked a few times, his grip on the dagger loosening slightly, enough for her to drag it out from his hand and throw it to the side. Before she adjusted the neck part of the cloak and walked in the direction of the inn that they were staying at, she didn’t want to be out there any longer, and she was beginning to get cold from the snow. The cut on her neck and in the palm of her hand were stinging, but she just clenched her hands, forcing herself to keep on moving, to not strike Jurian down, or lose the control she had.

“Where have you been? You’re hurt,” Lucien asked the second she entered the inn. Jurian walked in behind her, watching them. “Were you two out there?”

“I fell down from a tree, grabbed a branch and cut myself, nothing more, and nothing less. I’m going to get some rest,” she replied and walked past him, not giving him a glance.

“Adriana, are you okay? You’re in pain aren’t you?”

She was just taking the first step up the stairs when he had asked that, finding it weird that he knew that she was just masking the pain. But she shook it off and snorted as a response before continuing on her way up the stairs and to the room she had been given. The moment she closed the door, she turned to the window and let the cloak fall from her shoulders and down onto the floor, as well as putting her hair up in a ponytail. For a moment, she stood there and watched the sun, but she didn’t find it interesting enough.

“Hey, Adriana. Can we talk?”

But she didn’t get to decide whether she wanted to talk or not, especially when Lucien walked through the door the next moment, his eyes exploring the room before landing on her.

“Say what you want and then you can leave, I need to rest for the rest of the travel.”

Her words didn’t seem to make any difference as he sat down in a chair and kept his eyes on her back for some reason. Out of everywhere he could see, he chose to look at her back, like he was painting, and she was his model.

“About Jurian-“

She didn’t need to listen to any other words as she spun around on her hell, planted her foot against the back of his chair and pushed it backwards, until it hit the wall. Adriana rose her eyebrows at him. Her actions had caught him off guard as he grabbed the chair tightly, as to not fall backwards and end up on the floor right in front of her.

“Jurian and I, none of your business. And don’t you think that you got a say in this. Yes, I am here on behalf of your brother, but at the same time, I’m doing this for my own sake. You should just think about your sweet little mate if you are to worry about anyone,” she snarled, every single word she spoke dripping with venom.

“That wasn’t my point, Ana. And you know it. But fine, you will get it your way, I’m tired of fighting with words.”

Lucien grabbed the foot that was holding the chair up and pushed it to the side, throwing her off balance. Within the next moment, he grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back, while he pushed away her hair with his free hand.

“How much of the trip has he been listening in on? And what the hell is with your words? Save your family, despite you being owned by him? Bullshit.”

There was no way out of this one, she knew she had already lost this battle. But there was no way she wouldn’t end up winning the war, not when she was the one holding all of the good cards. She turned her head to be able to see him from the corner of her eye before she used her foot to throw him off balance and threw her head back. A direct hit if people were to ask her, especially with the way he staggered back and held his nose, before tripping over her cloak and landed on the wide bed.

“You think you’re the man, don’t you? I can show you a lot of ways to be a man, Lucien.”

Slowly, she walked over, stepping onto the bed, and crouched down next to him. But he didn’t look at her, rather the object in her hand as she fiddled with it between her fingers. Adriana knew this wasn’t the way to step lightly, but with the anger burning through her veins, it was like she couldn’t be stopped. The dagger found its way into the sheet, right next to Lucien’s head. With that, she got off the bed, but was soon pulled back as Lucien hovered over her, his expression deadly serious.

“I’ve known you for a long time, and this wasn’t you before. What happened to you?”

Before she could answer the question, the door opened yet again and Jurian didn’t even seem faced by the position they were currently in. He just rose an eyebrow at them, walked over and pushed Lucien off Adriana before grabbing Adriana’s hand and pulled her along. Even she was confused as to what was happening as she was pushed into a room with Jurian and he locked the door a moment later. He didn’t say anything as he sat down on the bed and motioned for her to sit in the chair, which she did after a roll of her eyes.

“You listen to what I have to say, and we’ll be done with this as soon as we get back to the autumn court and you’ll be off our back.”

“I’m listening.”


End file.
